Return to Radiant Garden: Deceased Friendship
by vildtiger
Summary: Following of Meeting old Friends. Lea is having great trouble of getting his old friend back after their return as humans, but Isas anger from Axels betray is great and that can cost Lea his life. LeaxOC
1. friend or foe?

_A/N. there will be much fighting in this story. Lea and Isa´s weapons are not the one you used to see in the games, I changed them because they´re not Nobodies anymore. If you want to see the weapons designs then look at my DeviantART profile. I have the same username. _

_Long time ago we walked a path together, side by side.  
>Now we stand on two different roads still holding a fading promise.<em>

"Alright, Axel" Isa said with a smirk.

Isa knew how to press Lea's buttons. It drove him crazy!

Isa knew that Lea hated more than anything, discussing his dark past as a Nobody. He hated being called his old name as well, and Isa knew this. He only did so to tick him off.

It was working. 

"We both know that that name isn't mine anymore." Lea tried to keep his tone matter-of-fact, but it really did irritate him. Isa irritate him.

Isa snorted. "You don´t deserve the other name."

Isa turned his amber eyes away from Lea to Kairi who was standing right behind the redhead. He was protecting her from Isa. It was the least he could do for her.

"Do you really trust this man? From all that pain he has caused?" the blue haired man asked the Princess of Heart.

Kairi glared at him. "I trust him more than I trust you!"

Lea couldn´t hold back a grin when it was so apparent that she had chosen his side. It would make things a lot easier…he had to bring her back to Radiant Garden. That would be much easier if she agreed with him to come.

"You heard the princess," Axel complete being said. "Kairi, step back."  
>He summoned his weapons, and the familiar feeling of warmth spread through is veins as the two spinning charkrams named Memorial Rings appeared at his side. He spread his arms and grinned, his fiery eyes meeting Isa's. "Just like old times, huh?"<p>

If Isa has been his old self, Lea would have bet his heart that the blue haired man would have smiled and rolled his eyes, summoning his own weapon with flair all his own.

But this wasn't the old Isa, this wasn't his friend from long ago. Isa stared at him, his eyes set in a deadly glare. He summoned his Nobility Crystal, and in a haze of blue smoke, the mighty claymore appeared in his hand. 

Lea sneered. Isa´s weapon was much stronger than it had been when Isa was a Nobody. A long time ago, Lea recalled seeing Isa's father use the Nobility Crystal to cleave a humanoid blue monster with red eyes, in half with a single strike. Isa would maybe someday too be able to do that; if he knew the swords secret powers. 

Lea attacked Isa, who dodged. The two were standing inches from each other.

"You know Isa," Lea said in a whisper so only the man in front of him could hear. "You aren't acting like yourself. Killing someone in cold blood? Sounds a lot like a Nobody…"

Isa smiled, an action that had become rather rare of late. "Really? Well, you're in luck. Neither one of us is going to die today, old friend." The last part of his statement was said with a hint of acid. His eyes flicked to something beyond Lea's shoulder. 

Lea turned to look at whatever had caught Isa's attention. He heard Kairi yell. She was being held by something fat and round…he couldn't discern what it was at the moment, but that didn't matter. Whatever it was, it had Kairi, and that was a problem.

"Leave her alone, fatty!" He said rushing toward the beast. He used his chakrams, and the bully yelped in pain when the fiery wheel made contact with his body. He released Kairi who fell to the ground.

"You okay?" Lea said helping her up.

She nodded, but her eyes widened as she saw her captor recover. It was too late for her to warn the fire wielder. He cried out in pain spread through his right leg.

Isa, didn't miss the opportunity to attack his wounded adversary. He struck, but lea was still relatively agile, even with a wounded leg. He countered sending Isa back. The two stood before each other both ready to attack.

Isa drew back, and Lea followed, chasing him until he was able to attack. After a moment, Isa stopped and attacked, and the brawl started once again. In a matter of moments, Isa was left with a badly burned shoulder, and Lea could feel his leg pulsing with pain. The two glared at each other, but Lea cracked a grin.

"Why don't we just call this even for now, so the princess and I can leave?"

His old friend smirked as he quickly conjured a cure spell and healed his own shoulder; the wound nearly disappeared in its entirety.

Lea grimaced. He's was far too good at healing for Lea's liking.

It was now Isa's turn to smirk. "You know I can´t do that. Like you, I always follow orders."

Lea sighted, and the fighting resumed, but it wasn't long before Lea realized his leg injury was far more debilitating than he originally thought. He fell to his knees from the force of the blade of Isa's Nobility Crystal.

The redhead tried to get up, but the assailant who had captured Kairi earlier wasn't far behind.

"Not so fast hothead," the bully said cheerfully, planting a foot firmly on his back. Lea made a promise to himself that if he ever got the chance, he would kick this guy's butt into the next world.

Lea looked up, and could see Isa advancing toward Kairi. When he reached her, he said something to the princess that he couldn't make out. Kairi stepped back, and he could hear hear yell loudly, shocked at what he had just told her.

"Why?" She said taking another step back. "Revenge is not your style!"

Both Lea and Isa were surprised at the outburst from the princess. Isa said something else to her, but again, Lea was unable to hear, but judging from the expression on both of their faces, it was something they both were unsure of.

Lea turned his attention back to the fat assailant on top of him. It was useless to eavesdrop on a conversation he couldn't hear in the first place.

"Let go of me!"He hissed, but his attacker just chuckled. "No way hothead. Heh heh…you're exactly where you belong."

Lea glared at him. "Call me that again, and we'll both be smelling fried foot!"

Before the enemy could respond, Isa's voice cut through the atmosphere. "Let's go!"

The large beast looked up, a confused expression on his face. "Huh? But what about…"

"I said let's go!" Isa's order was harsh, and it took no time for the large grunt to snap to attention and follow him through a portal. Not a moment too soon either, as Lea was just seconds away from encasing him in flames.

Lea grunted as he sat up. He wasn't at all thrilled about the way the fight had turned out. He examined the condition of his leg and attempted to conjure a cure spell, but he simply wasn't as good at it as Isa was.

He looked over at Kairi, who was running toward him.

"You okay?" She asked, her voice full of concern.

Lea nodded. He had only been able to stop the blood from flowing from his leg, but nothing more. "After all the cuts I've sustained in the past, I can't even conjure up a decent cure spell." 

He wasn't about to cry over something like this, however. He got to his feet and Kairi helped him walk. They didn´t go to the main island's coast; against Kairi's better judgment (she thought it would be a better idea to go seek help there)

"So why did you help me?" She asked after she opened the door to the other side of the island, mostly to her own confuses why he wouldn´t go to the main island. 

Lea smiled "You could call it of my way of saying 'sorry.' I did a lot of stupid things in the past."  
>While this was true, Lea also felt guilty because he heard that Even, the Somebody of Vexen had mentioned that Maleficent was once again after the Princesses of Heart.<p>

Why would they be interested in saving her? 

Anyway, Even was more of the type to plan something than to actually take action, so he had taken off to get to Kairi before Maleficent could do any damage. He needed to take her back to Radiant Garden. So Even made a plan with the guards to get her but Lea already knew by the time they got moving, Kairi would´ve been chaptered. So Lea took down town, took Cid gummiship (after asking of course) and headed straight to Destiny Islands where Kairi lived now. And after a nice battle against a childhood friend was Lea with Kairi on their way back to Radiant Garden. Lea could get day off when Kairi is safe in the castle.

xXx

Talking about early day off? Forget about it.  
>"Great. I forgot about Mr. Gorilla…" Lea muttered under his breath, just low enough to avoid detection from Kairi. They were now at the gate of Radiant Garden, where two guards were standing. The tallest one addressed Lea directly.<p>

"Looks like you've gotten yourself into trouble again."

"Sure, " the redhead said dismissively to the guard. This guard was known as Aeleus, and he wasn't very much of a bother to Lea. He could stand his chiding once in a while. "Well, now, can you take Kairi while I—" 

He was cut off by the "Mr. Gorilla" Lea was so _fond_ of, that guy have really spoiled the pasts fun inside the castle (by throwing young Lea and Isa out)  
>All he wanted to do was leave Kairi there so he could go take care of his injuries. <p>

"You should have someone take a look at your leg." The guard's eyes were solemn, but clear.

Lea frowned. He has never really liked Dilan, the oldest of the royal guards.

Lea was about to argue with Dilan or "Mr. Gorilla" as he sometimes called him, but the guard insisted that he see the castle medic, Even.

Lea snorted hard "Over my dead body!"

Dilan smirked as he took his weapon; a purple spear. "I would consider my words carefully if I were you."

The look in the guards eyes told Lea at there was no way he was going to leave until he went to see Even. Unless he wanted more cuts as the man with dreadlocks would probably delight in administering.

Lea sighted in defeat. "If you really insist." He gave in, and the guard lead him away. 

Aeleus lead Kairi away and Lea turned around, a faint smile on his lips. _She´ll be safe now_ he thought.

Dilan scowled. "What are you ogling about? Let´s go boy."

"First of all, I´m not 'ogling 'anything. Second, my name is 'Lea,' not 'boy.' L-E-A! Got it memorized? "

Dilan snorted "Don´t you ever get tired saying that?"

"Never," Lea said with a chuckle. When the guard sighed loudly, he was pleased to note he had fully annoyed him.


	2. traitor

"Ow, stop doing that, dammit!" Lea shouted at the blond haired man who was cleaning his wound. He stopped briefly to scowl at the redhead.

"It would hurt less if you hold still! I have to clean out all the sand before I can heal it!" Even scolded. 

Lea rolled his eyes but sat still while he cleaned the wound, dabbing it carefully with a cotton ball.

"Well, nothing's broken," Even muttered more so to himself than to Lea.

Lea rolled again his eyes. "Thanks for telling me something I already knew—AH! Hey, Watch it that hurt!"

"Sorry may fault," Even said with a slight smirk that made Lea think he may have pressed harder on purpose.

Lea laughed. "Why do I get the feeling you´re enjoy this?"

"Because you may have been the one who killed him…" There was a calm and young voice that entered the room.

Lea and Even turned their heads toward the young man who entered the room. Ienzo, the complete human form of Zexion, who happened to be the youngest of the six apprentices, stepped into the room. Normally, he sported a white lab coat, but it appeared as though today he was wearing regular clothes; a lavender shirt and blue jeans.

Lea turned his attention back to Even. "You're still mad about that? It was years ago!"

"Two and a half years ago to be precise."

Ienzo came up beside Lea as he continued to argue the issue.

"Come on guys! That was a long time ago. I was a Nobody then. There's no way I would have done that if I were a human."

"We know," Ienzo said, finishing off Even's work with a quick cure spell. "If you were still a Nobody, neither I nor Even wouldn't even let you in this castle."

"Gee, thanks." Lea shook his head. "You guys are too much." He jumped down from the table.

Even nodded. "So now that that has been settled, I hope you learned your lesson." He turned his attention to Ienzo. "Now that you're here, I want you to chaperone Kairi tomorrow."

Ienzo, who was usually indifferent about most things, looked up in shock. Judging by his reaction, it was apparent to Lea that he knew Kairi. It made sense. They had both lived in the castle not too long ago.

"Sh-sh-she's here?"

Even nodded. "Yes. She arrived not long ago. Lea came with here. After he barely survived an encounter with Saix's human form, they came here. "

Lea glared, but his expression soon turned into a grin when he took note of Ienzo's face. "What's wrong, Ienzo? Didn't you want to meet your girlfriend again? Sorry, but she's already taken." He added cheekily. 

"She is NOT my girlfriend!" Ienzo said in a huff, but it only made Lea laugh louder.

"Oh so you do like her?" He dodged a book as Ienzo threw it in his direction.

The apprentice ran after Lea; shouting he that should recant the statement.

Even rolled his eyes. How could Ansem take all of this when he was in charge?" He sighed."I had hoped he was still around…"

xXx

It had now been a week since Kairi had returned to her childhood home. Lea had only seen her twice and talked with the girl. The first time he met her was back then he took Ienzo's ice cream. The two had struggled over it, and it ended up with a eaten ice cream and Lea got cold feet. Literally! All thanks to Ienzo. Ienzo had really changed since his time existing as Zexion. He was no longer as pensive and quiet. He even made jokes from time to time.

not long after met Kairi up with Lea again, this time alone and she asked about him and Isa. hers memories from hers childhood had returned and like many others; she knew Lea and Isa has been close friends.

_"Why did you and Isa try to kill each other?"_

_"I'm not sure Princess, but I intend to find out why he's acting like this."_

"_Why was that idiot the bad guy?"_ Lea thought sadly. He looked skyward. "If we ever meet again, you have a hell of an explanation to give."  
>It was difficult having his once best friend as his enemy. He desperately wanted things to go back to the way they once were.<p>

He closed his eyes, enjoying the gentle wind as it hit his face. For a moment, Lea forgot about his sadness, frustrations, anger and guilt.

He just enjoyed the moment of being free again, feeling his new founded heart beat steady inside his chest. Emotions were a new thing. The positive ones, he thought were becoming more frequent of late as he could see that things might once again turn out they way they once had. Being human was amazing. When he opened his eyes, he could see the sunset right in front of him; it was a symbol of hope.

There would always be days of sadness, anger and fear. No one could ever run away from that, like no one could stop the sun from going down and no one could stop it from rising again.

Lea's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the mechanical sound of a gummiship somewhere in the atmosphere. He looked up, blocking the light of the sun from his eyes, and smiled when he recognized the ship's design. A smile spread across his features. "I knew you would return, Sora."

He watched the ship land, and after a moment, he saw the Keyblade wielders Riku and Sora exit the ship and make their way toward the castle. They had paused briefly to talk to Squall (Lea refused to call him his new name; Leon) about what had happened. He assumed they had mentioned something about Kairi as well. 

Lea looked after them with a faint smile but his smile faded when he heard the sound of a portal appearing not far way. He turned around, and was standing face to face with Isa.

"Welcome to the party," Lea said dryly.

Isa just glared at him.

"What are you up to?" Lea tried again.

"I was wondering how it was going for the Hero of Light," Isa replied, adding extra emphasis to the word "light."

Lea frowned."Sora is fine…I guess. He just got here."

Isa's amber eyes stared coldly at him. "I don't mean Sora, fool. I was asking about you. You belong to the light now. I´ve been watching you; you're enjoying your life as if nothing is wrong."

Lea opened his mouth to say something but he closed it again as Isa continued. "Have you already forgotten what you have done?" Isa's voice had changed slightly from anger to disappointment.

Lea shook his head "I couldn't forget, even if I wanted to… I can´t…"

"Hump…you don't even deserve to be called Lea, Axel."

Lea's hands clenched into fists, their eyes met. Isa could see fiery rage burning in his eyes.

The Blue haired man smirked. "Oh did I hit a soft spot, traitor?"

"My name… is not Axel!" shouted angrily. "Just like you you're not Saïx! We´re humans, but you're acting like a Nobody again!"

Isa's expression didn't change. He was completely unaffected by Lea's words. "Are you done with all this meaningless talking?"

Lea called forth his chakrams. "ISA!" he shouted in rage. He attacked.

Isa smirked and stepped back into his portal. The fire wielder landed where the blue haired man had stood only a few moments before. Behind him, Isa reappeared. "Remember this anger, Axel." He pointed at himself now with a dangerous glare. "For this is anger is the same one I felt when you betrayed **me**!"

More than ever wished Lea he could yell that it was all a lie, but he knew it was all true. Lea turned his back to Isa he had betrayed his best friends.

"This is all I have felt ever since my heart returned. Hatred, rage, and disappointment are all I have. I can't feel anything else than that.

Lea shook slowly his head. "…I didn´t mean to… I just wanted…"

His eyes snapped to his right when he once again heard the portal appear right beside him.

"But you did," Isa said icily. "Thanks to your actions, we now stand on two different sides."

"Light and Darkness, eternal enemies but still…" he never got the change to finish his sentence before he saw Isa summon his weapon. Lea turned around and just in time, to avoid an attack by the claymore.

Lea quickly jumped away from Isa, but instead of fighting back, he chose to run.

Isa stood still but smirked. "You can run, but you can´t hide, traitor." He stepped back into his portal and disappeared.

Lea stopped a few yards away and turned around.  
>He sighed. "Why do I always get the stuck with the icky stuff?" <p>


	3. fight to the death

Lea continued to run, until he came to the Castles Gate, the place where Demyx met his fate. Lea stopped to catch his breath. He had planned on lurking Isa out from the city in hopes that if they got into a fight, it wouldn´t harm others. Lea looked back to the bailey and cursed loudly before he started to run again.

Isa stood watching Lea as he ran out the city, wondering what he was planning. He opened another portal and teleported to the end of the Great Maw and watched as Lea continued to run.

Lea turned around and shot a weak fireball in Isa's direction to make sure he was still following him. It took Isa slightly off guard, but he was able to deflect it with his Nobility Crystal. Lea grinned in a mocking manner and added "That´s I call lighting up!"

Isa growled, and jumped down from the cliff. He landed right in front of the fire wielder. "Enough of your stupid games." 

"aw~ I thought you liked games!" Lea said in a deceptively cheerful tone. He was actually worried about fighting him. He backed away a little and Isa walked around him. "Come on, can´t you take a joke?"

"You call that a joke?" Isa asked.

Lea smiled. "It wouldn´t have hurt you. You know I'm concerned about you."

Isa snorted. "Well that´s new… or is it just one of your lies again?"

Lea's grin faded and was replaced with a regretful face. He looked right in those yellow eyes and said, "I didn´t want this to happened Isa…." he hoped more than ever he could see his old friend in those eyes.

Isa growled "But it did, and now you die!" He transformed into his berserker form, a powerful yet uncontrollable state that had Lea worried. He called his weapons and blocked the savage attack from Isa.

Lea threw his Memorial Rings at the Isa, but the attack didn´t seem to have any effect. Isa slashed with claymore and hit Lea's side. He dropped to the ground and rolled a few feet away.

"Dammit!" He cursed, holding his wounded side. Isa had probably broken some of his ribs with that blow.

Isa turned his now glowing eyes to Lea. There was no spark of his friend in those eyes… only the Nobody, Saïx.

"DIE!" Isa roared, and threw his claymore after him. If this truly was Saïx, and he was wielding the powers of the moon, Lea would have been done for. The Nobility Crystal he now held was different than his original Lunatic. Lea began realize that something was different about his weapon. Lea jumped away from Nobility Crystal's path, but still managed to get a small nick on his leg. 

Before the berserk form of Isa made another attack, Lea jumped behind him, hoping he could get a change to strike. He managed to hit him with his chakrams but it wasn´t enough to stop him. "Even if he doesn't know that swords full powers, I can´t win!"

Lea landed but he didn´t have a chance to get away from the blade. He landed on the ground, this time however he was fortunate enough to escape more broken ribs.

The berserker walked towards him, and growled, forcing Lea up by putting him in an arm lock. The blue haired began to calm down a bit, even though the berserk mindset was still present. Lea hissed in pain. He tried to smile anyway. "How does it stand now? Do I even have any points?"

Isa growled "Even in this situation, you still make jokes. Don´t you ever get tired of being so ridiculous?"

Lea laughed, but it turned into a hiss of pain as Isa forced the arm back further. "You used to smile too. We made that old promise because of me being ridiculous." 

Isa scoffed, and suddenly a the sound of something breaking filled Lea's ears, followed by unimaginable pain surging through his arms. Lea knew Isa had broken it.

The blue haired man released Lea and let him fall to the ground. He tried to support his broken arm with the other as he backed away. Isa looked at him coldly. "That promise is just as useless as that arm, and just as weak." He tipped a brow, looking down at Lea. "But why do you still keep fighting?"

Lea smiled, refusing to show weakness. "I have still… things I need to do… " He gasped through the pain. "I still want the Isa I know back."

"Isa died the day he lost his heart."

Lea laughed and spun the chakram in his only useful arm. "No, he´s alive, somewhere inside you. From time to time, I see my old friend in those eyes." When the words left his lips, Lea could see a spark of Isa in those eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it came."Enough of this."

Lea gasped when he felt the blade from Nobility Crystal cut right through his flesh. He fell on the ground and gasped for air as the free flowing blood from his body slowly took the life from him. Isa dismissed his weapon and walked to the wounded man.

Lea weakly looked up at Isa. "I guess… you win… this...time." 

Lea motioned toward him to come down a little closer, and Isa hesitantly obeyed. The fire wielder put his hand on the berserker's shoulder. "Isa… I´m glad…" he coughed, and some blood dripped from his lips. "We got… the chance…to be...friends."

The last thing Lea remembered was Isa´s shocked face before he blacked out.


	4. frustration

When Lea woke up, he had no idea how long he had been out but it was definitely more than an hour. He was no longer bleeding to death on the ground outside the Great Maw anymore.

It took him a moment to realize he was in a warm bed, in a room he couldn't identify as his own. The walls were a brown color instead of the light blue as his room. He sat up slowly, and discovered that his broken ribs had healed, and his arm was bandaged. He gingerly touched his bandaged arm and was surprised that it had healed as well.

Lea smiled in relief. The wound on his chest where Isa had landed the blow Lea thought would finish him off had healed, but a scar still remained. It would be some time before it disappeared, but it was better than the scars sustained from dark magic spells.

He looked around and discovered that his clothes were draped over a chair in the corner of the room. Putting those on now would be an issue because of his bandaged arm, so he decided to see where he really was. Over to the right, he saw a set of stairs leading down, so he decided that would be the best place to investigate.

He made his way down the stairs and found that it looked rather familiar. It was Merlin's shop. It was even more apparent when he saw the members of the Restoration Committee sitting below at the table.

Aerith smiled. "Good morning Lea, how´s the arm?"

"Better, thanks to you, I guess." He went to the table and sat down. He offered a smirk to Yuffie who was sitting beside Aerith. "What's up, little girl?"

Yuffie giggled but didn't have the change to reply.

"So what happed?" came the serious voice of Squall who was standing against the wall with folded arms.

Lea shrugged. "Nothing."

Leon took a few steps toward him. "Did you really think you could drag yourself here with a broken arm and a deep wound on your chest?"

"Of course not!" Lea exclaimed. "I thought one of you guys found me and brought me here before I died!"

Judging from the confused looks of the members of the Restoration Committee, he could see that none of them had been to the battlefield. "So…who saved me?" 

"We don´t know." Aerith said. "Someone brought you here, but we couldn't see his face. He said something about you being his 'brother.'"

"Brother…" Lea's face paled. "Brother? Aare you sure that's what he said?" Hope was creeping into his voice." Did HE really find him? Was HE still alive?

Yuffie nodded cheerfully. "Yep! I'm 100% sure he said that!"

Lea smiled. "I thought he was dead, but I guess not! "

"Sorry to spoil your realization here, but I want to know what happened to you out there.

Lea glared. Squall was the Restoration Committee's leader, but not his. He didn't follow orders from him. "It's none of your business." 

Leon glared back, but he was still relatively calm. "It's Leon. If you don't tell us what's going on, how are we supposed to think you changed?"

"Because last time I did that, I lost everything!" Lea shouted, slamming his hand on the table. "I opened up to a kid once, and he told me it would be alright. The only thing I got from that moment was pain!"

Leon didn't have words.

Lea walked past him. "I only joined this group because we have the same goal: restoring Radiant Garden back to its former glory."

"I know that Lea, but you can´t dwell in the past. You have to move on and forget what happed back then."

Lea stopped and looked down at his injured arm. "It was an accident…"

"Accident? If you ask me that 'accident' almost got you killed. Whoever there gave you those wounds are no good." Cid said with a huff.

"You don´t know him!" Lea shouted. "He´s not evil!" With those words, the fire wielder left the room.

Leon shook his head. "Nice job."

"What did I say?" Cid said defensively.

Aerith glared and shook her head.

xXx

After the little conversation with the Restoration Committee, Lea decided to spend more time looking for Isa around town. He looked all those places he and Isa have been as kids, the Market place where they so often ate ice creams and discuss the next "Adventure." he searched around the castle, he even looked after Isa inside his old home. It seemed that everywhere he looked ended the same: at a dead end.

That caused at Lea become even more frustrated. Because Ienzo bared the brunt of Lea's inquiries about where Isa had gone, he was especially irritated. He would rather not ask the younger boy but Ienzo somehow just knew things.

"I told you, Isa is not here." The teenager hissed, not looking up from the thick book he had in his lap. This was the third time Lea had been there to inquire, and every time he got the same answer. "He´s probably in some other world causing trouble."

Lea slammed his hand on the table so hard, that Ienzo almost dropped his book. "Why does everyone think he's evil?" Lea shouted.

Ienzo frowned. He had never seen him so furious before."…Because he is." He frowned as he tried to explain."The Isa you know exits no more. You can see the Darkness in those amber eyes of his. Why he surrendered to the Darkness is still a puzzle but he will never-"  
>he stopped, and took note of Lea's deadly gaze before finishing quickly. "be able to return to the Light after being completely consumed by Darkness."<p>

"Riku did it"

Ienzo glared at Lea. "Because you let Naminé go! Isa won´t ever win over the Darkness like Riku did! He´s not strong enough-"

Lea grabbed hard around the boys collar, and smack him into the wall. "Be careful with your words. I'm not in the mood for this. He's stronger than you think,"

Ienzo could see a flicker of the old Axel return in his eyes as he spoke. "and if he wanted to, he could kill us all" 

Ienzo felt a streak of fear run down his spine. He didn't like fighting. He was relieved when he saw Lea relax a little, as he realized what was happening.

Lea quickly released him. "I´m sorry… I.."

Ienzo backed away. "Just…go, don´t come back before you..." he trailed off but the red haired got the message clearly. He nodded sadly but apologized once again for good measure. "…Sorry…"

After that, the Fire wielder kept way from others. He was worried about what his temper would do. He now stood at the bailey, searching yet again for Isa, but he saw nothing. "Can´t you see I care about you?" He asked himself, but of course there was no answer.

Lea headed back toward the town. _If he was bad like everyone says, Isa would have killed me that day… but what if Ienzo said was right_?_ What if his once Noble heart can´t conquer the Darkness?"  
><em> 

Lea was so much in his own thoughts he didn´t see another person in front of him. I moment later, the both of them were sitting on the ground amidst a flurry of papers.

Lea realized what had happened, and he quickly helped the person up. He picked up one of the papers and realized they were maps. He offered a quick apology.

"Me too, I was lost in thought." The person was a woman. He recognized her from the castle. He had seen her a few times before, but he didn't know much about her, only that Even had recruited her about a month ago. 

He handed her the papers, and uttered another apology. She thanked him, her green eyes meeting his emerald ones.

Lea's heart skipped a beat. She had golden blonde hair and grass green eyes. She was dressed in a lab coat similar to Even's and wore a grey shirt. Though her outfit was simple, her beauty shone through. 

The woman smiled, not noticing Lea's stare. "Well thank you for helping me gather my papers mister…um…"

Lea shook his head to put his thoughts back into order again. "L-Lea, I´m Lea. You work at the castle, right? 

She nodded and tucked some of her blonde hair behind her ear."Yeah. Why?"

"…. You're pretty." Lea could have shot himself. What a stupid thing to say.  
>The woman's expression became as cold as if the sun had just vanished from the sky. That was a bad sign.<p>

"Oh, so you think only ugly girls can work at the castle?"

"No, no that's not what I meant. I just—" He tried to explain, but she stopped him.

"Maybe it´s best you don´t say anymore. You already sound idiotic."

He stared as she turned and walked away. Even in anger she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Lea slapped his hand against his forehead. "I´m SO stupid! No… an idiot!" She was right, but he couldn't just let her go like that. 

Lea ran after her, but she was now down near the still broken Fountain Court. Lea jumped on the fountain and landed right in front of her. Startled, the poor girl dropped her papers again but Lea caught them before they landed on the ground. "I´m sorry for saying that… and scaring you again."

She said nothing, as she was still in shock at his sudden arrival. He quickly continued. "It was stupid of me to say that, and I wanted to say 'sorry' again, so…"

She stopped his blabbering by placing her hand gently over his mouth. "You don´t have to say anymore. You are forgiven."

She removed her hand. Lea smiled and handed her the papers. He took her hand in his and tried his best to transform into a gentleman. "Can I ask you to get a drink with me? It's not a date!" He added quickly

She laughed a laugh that was so gentle and beautiful, Lea felt he could do anything to hear it again. She took his hand and smiled. "That sounds nice Lea. I'm Celine by the way.


	5. first date

"So what is this called again?" Lea picked up the glass and examined it again. There was a light colored substance inside and Celine seemed to love it like he loved sea-salt ice cream.

Celine giggled at his childish stare at the drink. "It´s iced tea, you can many different flavors, but I like peach the best."

Lea nodded, still staring at the tea as if it was going to attack him. He took a sip of it and agreed that it wasn't bad. "Not Bad"

Celine smiled sweetly. "Glad you like it."

After they both finish their drinks, Celine took her paperwork and thanked him for the drink before leaving. Lea watched her go, and smiled. She was truly the sweetest person he had ever met. Something about her made his heart race, she was a beauty but it was not that there made him feel like this. It was something in her eyes, he couldn´t explain it but he just loved those eyes of hers.

He looked down at the table and saw a piece of paper that had something scrawled on it. He took it up and read few lines. They said something about the heart. It seemed like some kind of journal entry.

He knew she was working at the castle but he didn´t know she actually WORKED in the labs at the same time.

He looked up to call after Celine, but she was gone. The Fire wielder didn´t know where she had gone. He picked up the paper and walked back home. It seemed as though he had forgotten about his problems for the time being.

xXx

Lea rested against the couch in his parent's old house. He liked this old place, everything looked almost like it did after 11 years. Same grey-blue walls and tree floor, same pictures over the fire place and memories of the family there once lived here. Of course there was some disadvantages, as the memories closely followed at the pain he often felt as he remember his parents his death; killed by the Heartless. But this is still his home and it still gives him the feeling of security. Lea took the paper up Celine had left behind. He began reading the paper. He knew it was wrong to read the work of others, but he was too curious to care.

_The heart has always been mysterious to those of us who research it, a condition that only makes it more interesting in my eyes. The heart is the source to all emotions, and we need those emotions to be humans be they positive or negative. Many hearts are strong enough to create Heartless but I'm not interested in those sorts of hearts._

_I want know more about those who bear the strong heart of element. Through my research, I have met few with those kinds of hearts, but why they can utilize the powers of the elements s a puzzle to them. My master Even knows, but as a teacher, he wants me to find the answer for myself. _

_I read few of the kings' journals and found there exits beings without hearts that also do not fall under the category of Heartless. He calls them Nobodies. They have powers like some of us. They can live without heart and control elements they live as human thanks to their will to live, but they can´t feel emotion. What a sad life they live.  
>I asked Even about them and he told me I never would find a "living" Nobody because they all faded into Darkness. It depressed me because it was a shame that they would never be able to find their human self again. <em>

Lea stopped reading the journal. He didn't know others were this interested in Nobodies. What was more interesting was that she felt sorry for them. Well, he supposed someone would have to be the first. He shrugged it off and decided to pay Even a little visit. He want give the journal page back to Celine and (hopefully) get another change talk to her.

Something about her made him feel… happy but confused too! Now he wondered why the heck a feeling like this would strike him so suddenly. Sadly, he couldn't name it because he had never felt it before!

xXx

Lea stood inside the far too familiar castle, waiting for Aeleus to fetch Even so he could find out where Celine lived. His heart speed up just thinking about her!

It wasn't long before the guard returned with Even who looked a bit mad, possibly because he was dragged out from his laboratory.

Lea would have laughed at Evens face if not for his nerves. What was wrong with him? Being so insecure over this was so unlike him.

"What is the problem Lea?" Even asked in annoyance. He was not in the mood for games, like Lea could pull up a game now.

Lea gave the paper Celine had left to Even who put on his glasses to get a better look at it. After a moment, his face brightened. "Ah I see her research is going well." He smiled, and gave the paper back to Lea.  
>"Yeah she´s doing pretty good, too bad she can´t talk to a REAL Nobody."<p>

He grinned and Even smiled. It was weird to admit, but it was a shame that there were no Nobodies left in Radiant Garden. They had all returned back as humans and then extinct the humanoid Nobody. They had made a pact to keep their former allegiance to Organization XIII a secret.

Even turned to Axel´s somebody, the seriousness returning to his voice."Did Celine ask you bring it to me or..."

"She asked me!" Lea blurted out. "Uh…I want to give it back to her and...tell her it was interesting, but I…um…I don't know where she lives, so…could you…kinda…." He tried to ask with the worst lie ever, darn him being so nervous!

Even looked at him quizzically. Lea was acting strange. He was brilliant in scientific matters of the heart, but when it came to understanding feelings, Even was more or less clueless.

Lea nervously waited as Even tried to decipher the nonsense he had just uttered. After what felt like hours, Even said at last, "Of course. Here let me write it down so you won't forget."

Lea couldn´t believe his luck!

xXx

He found Celine's house fairly quickly. He was even able to pick a flower to bring her from the garden. It took longer for him to muster up the courage to knock on the door.

Celine open the door and looked surprised seeing him. "Lea? What a surprise."

"Yeah, I was just…um in the neighborhood and… here."  
>He gave the flower to her, feeling like a complete idiot. Being shy was not his style.<p>

Celine took the flower with a smile, and Lea could have jumped with joy when she asked him to come inside. The room had a calm aura as Lea stepped in, possible of the colors. The living room was light yellow almost creamy. The tables to dinner had a creamy white colors while the coach near the window was mint green. Lea was impressed of the room and how much space she acutully had "Nice house. Do I smell cookies?"

Forgetting his manners and slipping back into "Lea mode," he went into the kitchen to inspect the source of the smell.

Celine giggled to herself when she took note of his childish behavior. She followed him to the kitchen. "They sure are. Do you want to taste them?"


	6. reunited

Over the course of the next few weeks, Lea and Celine spent quite a bit of time with each other. Lea visited Celine frequently who spent much of the time teaching him how to cook. It wasn't long before she found out he wasn´t skilled in the culinary arts, but he tried and that´s was good enough for both of them.

He also made her laugh with his jokes and childish behavior, also the local kids loved him for that.

One of the days Celine saw Lea play with a little flock kids and asked him on the way home

"They´d always thought I was funny" laughed the fire wielder "and they think I´m awesome too!"

"Ha ha, well there´s not many who can stand against the Heartless and will play with them"

Lea smiled, but he said nothing.

But Celine also could see in his emerald eyes that Lea was suffering from something. He was hiding something from her. There was a period, when he was gone for days at a time. He appeared sad when he returned. He was frustrated too. She didn´t like his strange behavior so one day she decided to ask him directly. She chose a day when she was at his house so he couldn't run away.

"Lea what is it you keep searching for? What is it you want in life?"

"Nothing…" he said with a sigh. He leaned back against the couch and ignored the stare she was giving him.

She gently stroked his red hair, and she could feel him relaxed a little more. 

"Why won´t you tell me, don´t you trust me?"

Lea turned to her in slight disbelief. "I trust you, and would go to the worlds end for you, but I have to do this alone. It´s my own fault this happen."

"What happened?"

He sat up and was silent for a time before he answered. "…. I betrayed my best friend…"

Celine couldn´t believe such sweet person like Lea could betray his friend; there must have been a reason. "Why would you do that?" She asked.

Lea sighted "I´m not sure anymore if what I did was right or not… I helped one, but lost my closes friends."

Celine watched him as he rose and walked around the living room. "Everyone thinks he is one of the bad guys but…" Lea trailed off, and Celine rose and went to him, giving him a gentle hug

"You don´t?"

He shook his head "Never. He's not a bad person."

Lea would never give up on his friend, and Celine thought, if he believed in him so much, so would she. "Then if he's one of the good guys, he'll come back. He just got lost in the dark."

"Do you think I can get him back?"

Celine smiled a cheerful smile and nodded "If you light his way back, I'm sure you can."

Lea smiled again and hugged her. "Thanks for believing in me."

"You welcome." She smiled, hugging him tighter. She enjoyed his warm body. Celine hadn´t told him yet, but she could feel something stronger than friendship between them. She just needed the courage to say it out loud.

xXx

"I´m sure hope you can forgive me Ienzo," the Fire wielder said, still feeling bad about what he had done to him earlier. Luckily, it appeared as if Ienzo had forgiven him long ago. Like he did when he returned from the Darkness after Axel, the Nobody of Lea had used the Riku Riplica to finish Zexion who had been Ienzo Nobody off.

"You don´t have to apologize, Lea. Everyone has a bad day from time to time." He looked up from the book he was yet again reading. "It just so happened I was in your warpath. Just be careful next time." He looked back down at the book. "I may not be so forgiving the next time. So, did you find Isa?"

Lea scratched his neck, a light blush forming over his cheeks. "No… I've been pretty busy doing…uh…other things lately."

Ienzo smirked, but he didn't say anything. Lea had a pretty strong feeling the boy already knew about him and Celine.  
>Aeleus walked into the room, muttering something about "the masters mind is still very fragile…"<p>

Celine walked in behind him, a smile on her face.

"What 'master?'" Lea said.

Celine's face lit up. "Oh hey Lea!" she walked towards him and Ienzo "Ansem the Wise has returned!" Her expression faded a little as she continued. "But…his memories have been shattered, so it's a bit difficult for him to take his position as master again…" 

Ienzo decided it was best to explain judging from the shocked look on Lea's face. "A few days ago, Riku and Kairi came by, and so did the Master Ansem. They left quickly, and took Kairi with them. Kairi told me before she left that Ansem had been trapped in the realm of Darkness and that his memories were broken. He may not remember any of us. "

Lea didn´t know much about their so called 'Master.' He was only able to piece together who this man was from the old journals from the study room near the computer and shattered words from the apprentices.  
>Judging from this conversation, it looked like Ienzo really looked up to this man.<p>

"So...why is this so serious?"

Ienzo sighed, putting his book down. "I feel pretty bad about what we did to him, especially after he cared for us like he did."

Again, Lea was completely lost as to what he was talking about, but maybe in the future, he could squeeze it out of Ienzo.

Celine gently put her hand on Ienzo's shoulder. "I´m sure he will forgive you. He didn´t look like he hated Even."

"He probably doesn´t remember him."

Lea grinned and pointed toward the door "Who can forget that guy? He creeps the-"

"**Lea**!"

Both Celine and Ienzo exclaimed. The redhead put his hands up quickly in defense.  
>"Just kidding."<p>

The three of them chuckled lightly, but the laughter stopped when a Heartless arrived; a Dark Ball.

Lea and Ienzo quickly stood in battle position.

Celine, who couldn´t fight, hid behind Lea. He looked at her. "Warn the others!"

"Okay." She nodded and to ran to Ansem the Wise´s room.

Ienzo and Lea conjured their weapons and attacked. The Heartless didn't have a chance against their combined strength.

When Aeleus arrived at the scene from Ansem the Wise's room, the two had already made quick work of the Heartless.

Lea and Ienzo lowered their weapons but more Heartless arrived. They made themselves ready to strike the Heartless but Aeleus stood suddenly in the way. "Dilan and I will take care of it. Go outside and help!"

Lea and Ienzo nodded and ran outside the castle, towards the city where the Heartless were appearing in droves. They were easily disposed, but Lea got the feeling that they were being led away. The Heartless were consistently appearing in a line, not randomly throughout the city as the usually does. 

"Do you also get a weird feeling about this? It feels like we are being led somewhere. Are they trying to lead us away from the city?

"I know…" Ienzo said as he killed another Dark Ball. "It seems like this might be a trap."

Lea flashed one of his "Who cares" grins. "Let's go then!" He charged after another heartless. his who-cares grin "Of course it is. Let´s go!" and ran after the Heartless.

If Lea had been closer to Ienzo, he would have heard the teenager trying to lecture him about his irresponsibility and lack of forethought, but he was too far away, and didn't care.

The duo fought the Heartless to the old place where Maleficent used as her hiding place from time to time. It was in the remains of Hollow Bastion. It was also known as the Villain's Vale, the more common name for the location. The castle was in ruins now; not much of it remained. 

Suddenly, the Heartless stopped appearing, and the ones that remained vanished when a cloaked figure standing among the rubble, dismissed them with a wave of his arm.

Lea's jaw dropped when he saw who it was."I-Isa?"

The man with the X-shaped scar on his face looked up. His eyes were wild; he was in his berserk mode. Lea took a step back, glaring.

"Easy there, pal," he said to his old friend holding his hands up in defense. "I don´t want to fight you."

Isa showed no emotion. He didn´t even speak. He summoned his claymore and attacked.

The fire wielder was taken off guard, but was spared a potentially deadly blow by a shield spell from Ienzo.

"Someone is in foul mood today," Ienzo said dryly as the shield faded.

Lea rose and nodded, thanking him. "You don't say…but something feels wrong."

Ienzo and Lea dodged another attack, just missing the blade. Fortunately, the berserk mode made him stronger, but not more accurate. Due to his furious movements it was often difficult for him to land a precise blow.

"Oh you mean beside from goes berserk mode, and his attempts to kill us?

Lea glared. "Yes, and he´s not himself; he´s too…" he stopped when he couldn´t find the right words. "He's…just not himself okay?"

Ienzo would have replied but Isa appeared right before them snarling. Ienzo summoned a lightening spell that struck him directly. Isa sustained injuries, but it didn't stop him in the least.

Lea summoned his weapons and threw them at Isa who didn't even attempt to dodge them. His arm was deeply wounded because of it. Ienzo followed up with another lightening spell, but Isa didn't seem to notice.

"Okay, I give you that. Something is definitely wrong with him."

"Oh yeah?" the fire wielder asked irritably. "How did you guess that, smart guy?"

"Oh shut it Lea!" Ienzo yelled back. "At least I know what´s wrong!"

Lea huffed and dashed against away from Isa who destroyed the rock Lea and Ienzo were standing on. Lea attacked Isa's legs and blue haired man fell to the ground. He quickly corrected himself and stood with a roar.

Lea jumped in the air and attempted to land another hit, but Isa was faster. Isa struck him with the claymore, sending Lea to the ground, his head spinning.

Isa turned to Ienzo and attacked, but the younger boy didn´t have time to form a spell and tried shield himself with his arms.

"No you don´t!" Lea shouted and threw his Chakrams at Isa, knocking the claymore from his hands causing it to blow some rocks off a cliff many yards away, some of the rocks rolled down from the cliff and down in the maw.

Isa recovered quickly and attempted to attack Lea with his bare hands. Glaring, Lea blocked. "Chill out, would ya?"

He kicked his old friend, causing him to hit the ground hard and cease movement.

Lea stood gasping out of fatigue and anger. Ienzo appeared behind him and looked over at the unconscious form of Isa. "He's under someone's control," he said simply.

"How?" asked the fire wielder said with a raised eyebrow.

The teenager rubbed his chin as he always did when he was thinking."It's almost like when Marluxia tried to control Sora. This looks how I imagine it would have had Marluxia succeeded. The key difference here is that I think Isa is being controlled by Darkness and not by fake memories."

"…Isa"

Ienzo only halfheartedly tried to stop Lea from going to his old friend. He looked unconscious but he wasn't sure.

After Lea took his first step toward him, Isa rose. For a moment, his eyes looked how they should have; human. There was his old friend! His eyes looked pained, but human.

"What have they done to you?" Lea asked as he ran to him. "Isa!"

But he never got an answer, because the Darkness quickly took over again. A portal appeared behind him, and he struggled to enter it, as his body was greatly injured.

Lea stopped when the portal faded, and he turned to Ienzo. Ienzo tried to come up with some words of encouragement to cheer him up, but he was at a loss.

Lea saw his struggle and clapped him on the shoulder."You don´t need say anything…"

Ienzo turned after him, his stormy grey eyes full of sorrow. "I´m sorry…"

"…I know…" the Fire wielder replied. They silently made their way back to the city.

Ienzo suddenly stopped and began sniffing the air."Something smells weird…"

"It wasn´t me," Lea said with a grin, but Ienzo just scowled. "Not that, you idiot. I´m talking about the smell of Light."

Lea wasn't expecting to hear that.

Ienzo sniffed again and started back toward the rubble. "It's it´s very pure-" He stopped, his expression changed to shock. "Lea! It´s the scent of a pure Heart!"

"WHAT?" Lea said kneeling down and digging through the rocks. He could only think of one person with a heart like that in the vicinity. He hoped with all his heart that it wasn't one of the Princess of Heart… He dug through several more rocks, and stopped when he uncovered the upper body and face of the person and paused. He was relieved to see that the person was still breathing.

"Why are you just standing there?" yelled Ienzo angry of the Fire wielders hesitation "Are she alive? "

Lea gently picked him up. When he turned around to face Ienzo, the look on his face was of shock. The limp body in his hands had the same build as Sora, but his skin was pale, and his hair was short, blond, but equally as spiky as Sora's. 

Lea could remember the last time the two of them had even spoken. They had said goodbye to each other.

_"Let us met again in the next life."_

_"Yeah I'll be waiting." _

He never thought those words would come true…he didn't think he would return as Lea, and that he would ever see this boy again.

"Looks like we would meet in the next life…Roxas"


	7. sadness into hope

If there was anything Lea hated, it was waiting.

He and Ienzo had returned back to the castle with the unconscious Roxas and Even had taken him in to heal him. It turned out that he wasn't badly injured, but only unconscious.

Lea was now outside the door to the room he was resting in, waiting.

Ienzo was waiting as well, but he killed the time by reading a large chestnut colored book called the Spiritual Fate, his spell book weapon of choice.

"How long can this take?" Lea said impatiently.

Ienzo calmly flipped to the next page. "Maybe 10 minutes…maybe an hour. I don´t know."

Lea nodded slowly, turning his green eyes to the door.

It was nearly half an hour later and instead of waiting quietly; Lea had taken to pacing, which annoyed Ienzo to no end.

"Would you please stop moving around like that? Time won´t go faster with you doing that!"

Lea stopped and thought about how he could have used Luxord's abilities over time like this, then he was more or less free for all this waiting. IF he knew where that man lived, not even sure he had returned.

He scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, I just hate waiting."

"Axel never showed that side," Ienzo said frowning.

Lea shrugged "It was hard to be impatient when you don´t feel anything. Besides, I can be patient when it comes to other things." But added with a glare towards the door "not just to things like this" 

Ienzo sneered "Yeah, like waiting to the right moment to strike your teammates down."

"_Not this again…"_ Lea sighed. "I was a Nobody then! I followed orders and you would have done the same!" It wasn´t meant to come out as a shout, but from all that had occurred that day, he couldn't help it.

"Maybe I would have." Ienzo shrugged "but I would only have done it if it was from Xemnas not from his loyal dog as you always do!"

Ienzo had stepped over the line…

"Take that back!" Lea growled. He was close to summoning his chakrams.

Ienzo could feel it too but this time he didn´t relent. "No, it's true. You'll do anything for him."

"Would not!"

"Then why are you always trying to get him back?" Ienzo asked coldly.

Lea opened his mouth to respond, but thought better of it. "_Because he the only one I have left…"_  
>he wanted shout it out, but Ienzo didn't have family growing up. He was orphaned, and didn't know what Isa meant to him. Isa was the only one Lea could talk to who understood him. Of the loss and the pain they both felt…<p>

"I thought so," Ienzo smirked.

Lea fought back the urge to hit him, but Lea knew he was only like that because he was still a child at heart. He had some kind of inner struggle that always made him say things that annoyed others.

Lea glared at him, but before he could say anything, a deep voice interrupted their quarrel.

"No fighting here! Understood?"

In the hall, an older man with long blond hair and amber eyes appeared. He looked troubled by something, but he didn't say anything about it.

Lea glared. He had a similar voice to Diz, and he didn't think very highly of him.

His eyes flitted to Ienzo when he heard the boy gasp. "Master Ansem!"

Lea and Ansem´s eyes met, and it was then that the fire wielder knew this WAS Diz.  
>The man who took…no forced Roxas back into Sora.<p>

"You…" he said coldly.

Ansem nodded sadly. "I see you recognize me. Look, I apologize for what I have done…"

His apology caught the fire wielder off guard. Lea still glared at him, turning his eyes to the door where Roxas were.

Ansem got the drift and smiled."Your friend is alright, you can go in and see him if you would like."

Lea nodded slowly and said hesitated "I can´t forgive you from what you did to him, but… "

He turned towards the door but he didn´t go inside. He was afraid; afraid of Roxas would remember him as an enemy instead of a friend. What if he… didn´t remember at all?

Lea turned slowly his head away from the door; turning his emerald eyes to Ansem there now faced Ienzo who quickly bowered his head in shame. Ansem gently rubbed his shoulder encouraging him to look up again."No more sadness."

"How can I? For what I did to you, master." 

Ansem smiled sadly. "When I last saw you Ienzo, I saw a boy who only followed his elders. Now I see a young man following his own path."

Lea frowned when he saw Ienzo hug his master. Ansem was surprised too, but hugged him back.

Lea was surprised at how touching this was, but he only felt his own sadness increase. He turned from the hall of the infirmary and walked out of the castle. As he cleared the gate, he saw Celine, but not even her gentle touch could heal the hole in his heart. Lea was lonely, and he missed the past when everything was so… perfect. 

'_I feel more alone than ever, my family is gone…just like my past…' _

xXx 

Lea stood on the castle walls and watched the sunset, not knowing what to do anymore. He wanted to scream and tear his heart out to get rid of all his anger and sadness. He wanted to run and keep running until he met Isa again and followed him into the Darkness if he had to. He just wanted to have purpose in this life and have peace in his heart. Was it too much to ask for?

Lea turned his head when he heard footsteps behind him. It was probably Celine who always wanted to cheer him up. He turned around but was shocked to find that it was the blond haired boy.  
>"Oh hi Rox… sorry but, I´m not in the mood for talking."<p>

Roxas stepped beside him and looked up with eyes full of confusion. "Who is Roxas?"

"Huh?" Lea quirked a brow. Roxas didn't remember his own name? "Wait… don´t you know who you are?"

There was a blank stare and then "Roxas" laughed. "Of course I know who I am. I´m Ventus. Most people just call me Ven though."

That name sounded really familiar. Lea scratched his neck as he thought.

Suddenly he remembered!

Back when he was a kid, he remembered meeting a boy when he and Isa had snuck outside the castle. They met a boy that time and they had talked for a while.

Lea gasped. "Ventus? But you should be my **age** by now!"

Ventus eyes lowered. "Well, I have been asleep for a very long time… I lost my heart and was forced into a deep sleep." 

Lea couldn´t help himself, and made a joke. "Well, that was some nap!"

It cheered him up. Ventus grinned. "You don´t say? But now I´m back."

Lea laughed and ruffled the boy's hair. They went down to the marketplace and bought Lea's favorite—sea salt ice-cream. They sat down and ate. Lea found it amusing that Ventus acted the same way Roxas had when he tasted the ice-cream

"Someone like you said exactly the same"

Ventus took another bite before he asked "Really?" he looked around the city, it no longer looked like the town he last visited "What happed here Lea?"

Lea took a bite before telling "Around a year after we met, creatures began to arrive; we calls them Heartless. Someday the Heartless attacked the world… I never forget that day; everything was lost in a moment…" Lea stopped, he took another bite and continued "Radiant Garden felt that day and many fled, those who stayed wouldn´t or couldn´t go. The life was though and many didn´t make it" he decided not tell Ventus about the Nobodies, the boy wouldn´t need to worry about them anymore. "So after many years of struggle the world slowly got on its feet again, but as you can see" he hand waved towards the still broken city "There´s still long way before the city are its old self again"

"Wow… I wish I could be here and help, but… my friends…"

Lea sat a hand on his shoulder "It doesn't matter Ven, your friends needed you"

Ventus nodded, he stared at the ice cream with a sad look. Lea smiled and slapped his back with a "hey! Let´s us get a rematch!"

the young wielder looked at him, still shocked over the sudden push but smiled "Sure!

They went to the same place where their last match had been and soon the fight was on. Lea expected at Ventus would beat him for good but to his surprise was Ventus totally out of shape. By few hits the boy was on the ground, Lea dismissed his weapons and went to him; pretty worried over how easily he was.

Ventus rose from his spot on the ground. "Seems like you win this time." He laughed with no trace of concern.

"Yeah you're a little…rusty. Ven, follow my advice; you need to train…a lot."

"Okay, I will! It's been a long time since I've used a Keyblade. It's rather sad how out of practice I am." 

Lea smiled and gave the boy a high-five before they both headed back toward the castle. But before reaching it Ventus stopped

"Sorry Lea, but I have to go now."

Lea stopped with a frown "Why? What the hurry?"

"I didn´t find my friend the last journey… he may need my help"

Lea nodded in understanding."Okay. Just don´t try be a stranger, 'kay?"

The keyblade wielder laughed. "Sure! See ya, Lea."

the Fire wielder waved goodbye as the blond haired boy walked away, pressing on his piece of armor and when the light vanished Lea could see Ventus now wearing a full body suit of armor. Before he could ask about it, Ventus threw his Keyblade up in the air and it transformed into a skateboard-like mode of transportation.

Ventus jumped on the skateboard and it lifted off. Lea stood, waving goodbye.

"You seem happier now," Celine´s voice came from behind.

Lea smiled and enjoyed the gentle hug he got from her. "Have I really been that bad? I know I have been a little down but was it that noticeable?"

"You have much worry about. I'm surprised that you seem to be able to take it all on without breaking down…"

Lea's smile faded. If only she knew how much her support meant to him… He stroked her chin and gently forced their mouths together in a kiss. To his relief, Celine returned the gesture. She even pulled him closer to intensify the kiss.

After a moment, they broke apart, and Lea looked into her eyes. "I love you," he said softly.

"I love you too… " his first love whispered back.

Lea hugged her closely. He could feel her heartbeat against his chest, and they stared into each other's eyes. They knew what the other was thinking.

Celine blushed slightly. "Are you sure?" He asked softly.

"I´m positive," She said with sparkling green eyes.


	8. following Isa

As the sun once again rose and shone light on the Radiant Garden, everyone woke as the warm rays peeked into houses and shops. It was time to begin another day.

Lea woke up too when the sun's rays came into his window. He was surprised that it was already morning. T_he night sure was short…"_

He turned around and softly kissed Celine´s cheek. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Morning, Love."

"Morning. Did you sleep well?"

Celine scooted closer to him. "Yes, I have never slept better."

Lea laughed and sat up. "I'll go down and make some breakfast. Should I bring it to you in bed?

"No, I'll come down with you." She kissed him and added with a tease, "You never have been a very good cook."

They both walked downstairs and together made breakfast. When they finished their meal, they walked to the castle, for there were many things that needed to be done. Lea wanted to know what his old friend was doing now and why he was acting like that? Ienzo and the others may gives him some clues.

Still, he couldn´t worry about Isa. Lea had a life here, in Radiant Garden. People needed his help in the fight against the Heartless, and he also has some errands to do in the castle.

Celine turned to him. "Something wrong?"

"Hm?" Lea said looking up. "Not really. Just thinking."

"About your friend?" Celine took his hand. "You really miss him, don´t you?"

Lea's jaw tightened. Was he really so easily to read now? He always has been a pretty good liar, but he only had to lie as Nobody and he couldn't feel then. As Axel, he couldn´t feel this heaviness in the pit of his stomach when his friends turned away from him. He couldn´t feel the fire of anger when people he trusted pointed their weapons at him with intent to take his life. No, Axel couldn´t feel, but now, he had emotions and he never imagined they would change him so completely.

"Yeah… I miss him very much…"

Celine slowly nodded with a sad smile, knowing what this action would mean for them. "Go."

Lea's eyes widened slightly. "What?

"You won´t find peace in your heart until your friend is saved by the Darkness." Celine smiled, but tears still formed in her eyes. "You have to leave…"

Lea nodded slowly. She was right, but he couldn´t leave her. What if she got hurt while he was looking for Isa? He would never forgive himself if something happened to her. "I-I can´t leave you…"

Celine took his hand in hers. "I´ll be fine, and you won´t leave me." She placed his hand on her heart. "You will always be in here, and I will be in your heart as well."

"I will return. I promise."

With those words, Lea the fire wielder left his first love with a heavy heart. Neither of them knew how long it will take before they would see each other again but this had to be done before they could truly be together.

xXx

Lea traveled to the one world after another, following the tracks of the Keyblade wielders. He knew from experience that the chosen heroes sooner or later would find Isa for him. He found them in a world where ships flew out in space even they looked like those from the world Port Royal. He had wandered in the crowd of the world's towns folk, heard news about a ship just had returned from nowhere. He found the ship and there he saw them; Sora, Riku, Kairi and Ventus. Lea smiled and knew now it was matter of time before he found Isa, those guys had some sort of habit seeking trouble and Isa WAS trouble now.

The wielders not long after this adventure on Treasure Planet agreed to split up and Lea decide to follow Ventus and Riku, but somehow he lost them in the desert world; known as Agrabah

"Great, what now?" sighted the wielder. As he stood in nowhere and like that was bad, it stormed and he couldn´t see thanks to all the sand.

Lea took his scarf closer around his neck as the sandstorm he landed in, he couldn't see a thing but feel that he could. Bam! Lea landed right on his butt as he bumped into someone or something. He looked up and saw it was a person… there was blue. "Sorry about that" he apologized and got up.

The blue man helped him "That´s okay stranger, but what are you doing out here in a sandstorm?"

"I´m kinda lost" told the fire wielder, he looked around but couldn´t see anything than sand "Do you know where a city might be?"

"Sure! Let me show you the- no let me take you there!"

Before Lea could ask the blue man almost danced and by a 'poof', he was out from the stormy weather and stood now in a city "What the?- how did you?"

The blue man laughed "I´m a genie! That´s no big deal, we'll see ya stranger!"

And then the blue man flew away.

Lea stared after him. After his bit stunning stare, the fire wielder walked in his search after the wielders and after the signs he saw here and there; they have been here and in a fierce battle. The earth around was also wet but that was unusual for two reasons: one, this was a dry world meaning it rarely rain and two the keyblade wielders didn´t know any spells to control water.

"So if it wasn´t them, then who…"

"Axel?"

Lea turned his head, bit surprised someone here knew his Nobody name. The person who had said his Nobody name was a young male near the age of adult, his skin was tan like the population but the hair was dark brown instead of black and his eyes was sea blue…

"Do I know you?" asked Lea the younger male, he got a weird feeling he knew this guy.

The other one gave him a disappointed look "Aw come one! Can´t you recognize me either?"

That whine was no mistake, not to mention the mullet. "Demyx?" Lea asked in disbelief before he laughed from the younger males face "Hey it is you! Still playing on the sitar of yours?"

Demyx face lit up and he smiled back "As always." He got more serious "My name is Myde now, you know; I´m human like you, I guess"

"I´m Lea, got it memorized?" Lea said as he always does, making Myde laugh before saying it was Axel somebody.

"So, what are you doing here Lea?" asked Myde as he sat down to play on his sitar.

"I´m looking after the keyblade wielders, have you seen them?"

Myde nodded "Sure, they took off not long ago. I think him Riku was the imposter from the Organizations' time, he was nice enough but still that guy creeps me out but only because I heard what happed to Roxas after his meeting with him. Makes me wonder…. Why did Roxas travel with him? He said he wasn´t Roxas but Ventus but he looks so much like Roxas and even sounds like him-"

"Alright I got it, you saw them" interrupted Lea before Myde really got started his speech "Where did they go?"

"Oh, they moved to a world named Enchanted Dominion. They got a massager from Roxas- I mean Sora"

Lea nodded "Okay thanks, well gotta go" he turned to leave.

Myde stopped playing "Already? Why are you going after them, is it because of the kid there looks like Roxas?"

Lea stopped, turned with a smile to the other returning Nobody "Not this time, I have icky job of getting a old friend of mine back"

"Who?"

"Well, you know him as Saïx" Lea laughed of Myde face, which was priceless! Before the musician could exclaim why in the world he would be friend with a guy like Saïx, Lea added "But I know him as Isa and he´s my best friend and a pretty nice guy if you know him"

"I think you´re crazy, but do whatever you want. It´s not like I could stop you anyway" 

xXx

Now in this new world hide Lea in the creepiest castle he has ever been in, it remained him of Hollow Bastion. Lea walked alone in the castle, positive that Isa was here. It wasn't long into his journey inside the castle that he was approached by some odd looking guard. They blocked his way and wouldn´t let him go any further.

Lea smirked and summoned his weapons. "Are you sure you want to mess with me?" The fire surrounded him and Lea attacked the goons. "You asked for it!"

It didn´t take long before all the weak guards were defeated. Lea dismissed his weapons and walked through the doorway the goons had blocked. He walked down a long corridor, and at the end, he could hear voices. He decided to hide behind a gargoyle. Before him, he could see the Keyblade wielders standing before the witch who had once controlled this world. As he turned to get a better view at the scene, he could see someone standing there…it was Isa!

He was alive! But something was still wrong…

Lea listed to the witch and the keyblade wielder's conversation but the more he listened to them, the angrier he became.

Then she said something enraged him. He summoned his Memorial Rings, ready to attack. He wouldn´t allow this happen to his best friend!

"NO! Leave my friend alone!" He shouted.

The witch laughed but he could see in her eyes the witch was a little bit surprised over he was here. "So you are the so-called 'friend' I heard so much about."

Lea glared at her. He was ready to do anything, even if it cost him his life. And as things stood now… he may not walk away from this alive.

**To Be continued in Newfound Journey.**

a/n I thanks Kannah J to beta read the story and all my dear friends who have helped me.  
>The story will continued in Return to Radiant Garden: Newfound Journey<p> 


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